Sir Alex Ferguson fears that Antonio Valencia’s season could be over after suffering a possible break and dislocation against Rangers on Tuesday night.

The winger suffered the injury midway through the second half after a fair challenge by Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot. Unfortunately his studs got caught in the turf and the Ecuadorian stayed on the ground in agony. It was immediately obvious to the Rangers players that it was serious, they called for medics and a stretcher straight away.

Valencia was stretched off the field with an oxygen mask and taken straight to hospital. He will now have an operation on his left ankle sometime this morning.

After the 0-0 draw, the Man United manager said: “It looks like a dislocation and a fracture and will keep him out for a long time. He seemed to dig his toe into the turf, and as soon as we saw the Rangers player waving we knew it was a bad one, and it’s turned into a bad one.”